


Do Anything You Want

by Fire_Bear



Series: Hang Cool Teddy Bear [8]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Maybe a little angsty?, idiocy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-31 01:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3959320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is unsure whether to trust that Alfred loves him - and asks him to prove it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do Anything You Want

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by I'd Lie For You and That's the Truth.

“I love you.”

Arthur blinked at Alfred, alarmed. “Where-Where did that come from?” he asked, glancing around them in embarrassment. Everyone else in the park was uninterested, however, so he didn't need to worry about anyone hearing such a declaration. Couples walked arm-in-arm along the path. A few groups of children ran around with various toys, balls or Frisbees. People in smart dress used the patch of ground as a shortcut to their work or as somewhere to stop and have a bite to eat – just as Arthur and Alfred were in the middle of doing as they sat on their bench.

“Nowhere in particular,” Alfred replied with a grin. “I was trying to work out the best time to tell ya but I decided I might as well just do it whenever you did something to make me fall for you all the more.”

“Oh, I-” Arthur paused. “What did I do?”

Chuckling, Alfred picked up a napkin abandoned between them and wiped at the corner of Arthur's mouth. “You looked adorable.”

But Arthur yelped and turned red. “Oh, my God! Why didn't you _say_ anything?!” He rubbed at his face, just in case there was something else stuck to it.

Alfred only laughed in response. “Why would I? The pompous, fancy gentleman with food on his face? How could I pass that up?”

Spluttering, Arthur nudged Alfred as he continued laughing. “Quiet, you! Why are you with the fancy gentleman if you think he's pompous?”

“Because I know he's not really all that pompous,” Alfred said, nodding as if to affirm it. “And because I love him.”

At that, Arthur's heart skipped a beat again. He gave Alfred a weak smile. The last time he had heard those words, his boyfriend had been eager to start his own business with Arthur's money. And the time before that had been when he was much younger and innocent and he had been thoroughly strung along. He had always told himself that he had been silly to believe them – and now he wasn't sure if he should believe Alfred. They had only been together for four months, after all. Alfred couldn't possibly have fallen in love with _him_.

“Well? Aren't you going to say anything?”

He looked up to see Alfred staring at him with wide eyes, his lip jutting out in a slight pout. Arthur looked away, down to his lap. Toying with his sleeves, he said, “What... What do you mean?”

“I just told you I love you. Aren't you gonna say it back?”

Hesitating, Arthur took a breath. “I... I'm sorry Alfred but... how can I believe that?” He chanced a glance up. “We barely know each other. And... I just-”

“No, no!” cried Alfred, shimmying up the bench and throwing his arms around Arthur. “Please. I _do_ love you. I swear it!”

Arthur snorted. “Prove it,” he said, without thinking. When it hit him what he had said, he pulled back with a gasp. “Wai- I- No.” Flustered and confused, he stared at Alfred, his face red. Alfred looked shocked. “I... I have to go back to the shop.” And he fled.

* * *

 

Days passed and Arthur didn't hear from Alfred. He was too nervous to text or call him as he continued with his life, working in his very own bookshop and going home to his rather expensive, lonely flat. The shop he owned and worked in was doing relatively well but he had had to turn to the Internet recently to keep his sales up. Frankly, he was worried about it and how he was going to continue paying his father back for everything he had given him. Now, with the added stress of being without Alfred, life was grinding him down.

He felt more exhausted and upset as a week, two weeks passed. But Alfred never called and he was beginning to think that he had been dumped. Nervously, he had called once only to get the answer machine and hang up in a panic. The night that he had done so, he cried himself to sleep. It was only then that he realised how much he cared for Alfred, how much he ached for him.

How much he loved him.

The next day, he had wandered around in a daze, trying to think of the best way to tell Alfred. If he could find him, anyway. He still wasn't answering his phone and his e-mail account came back with an Out of Office reply.

So, when Alfred turned up at his door during the third week, it was all he could do to keep himself from launching himself at him. Instead, he merely stared and said, “Oh. Hello...?”

As though nothing had happened, Alfred grinned. “Heya! You gotta come with me!”

“What? Why?”

“Just get your shoes on and stuff and let's go! It's a surprise.” Alfred bounced on the balls of his feet, cowlick bobbing as he moved, blue eyes twinkling. Since he was so excited, Arthur sighed and did as he was told, wondering if he would be able to tell Alfred his important news.

* * *

 

“Why are we _here_ , of all places?” Arthur asked as he gazed out of the window.

He had asked where they were heading to when he had spotted the rental car. But Alfred had refused to tell him, despite it being obvious that they were going outside of London. They had driven for an hour or two, stopping at a service station for lunch. It had been a little awkward since Arthur wasn't sure if he should apologise or not: Alfred was acting as though this was a date and that nothing had happened between them. Because of that, Arthur had been unable to speak up about his own love, too confused and concerned to even open his mouth.

Finally, as they drove on, Arthur began to recognise his surroundings. They seemed to be heading to his family's estate. However, he couldn't understand why Alfred would be taking him there, so he had questioned his boyfriend. There had been no answer and he had to wait until they were at the gates to question him yet again.

“It's a surprise,” Alfred repeated, grinning.

“Are you going to tell me what that means?” asked Arthur, trying to think of what Alfred could possibly be up to. When he realised that the last time he had seen Alfred, he had told him to prove his love, he gasped. “What have you done?” he demanded, a little panicked. Alfred couldn't have done something as stupid as talk to his parents about marriage, right? That was far too fast!

“Don't panic,” Alfred told him as the gates were remotely opened and he drove through, heading to the house. “We're just gonna park, by the way, we're not going inside. Gotta go to the woods.”

“What? Why?” Now Arthur was very confused. His father's estate was huge and had woods at the back of the house, beyond the neatly kept gardens. They continued beyond the boundary of the estate, the border marked out by a low, stone wall. He had loved wandering through them as a child but he couldn't see what Alfred would want to take him there for.

“You'll see!” sang Alfred, stopping the car in front of the sandstone manor and turning off the engine. Arthur could only follow him as the young architect hurriedly scrambled out.

They walked calmly to the woods, Alfred swinging Arthur's hand and chattering about nothing. It caused Arthur to smile warmly. Even if the reason for being here was likely ridiculous, he was happy to have had this afternoon with him.

Winding their way through the trees, Arthur began to notice some odd things. The most glaring one was the new path – there had never been an actual walkway marked out but now there was a clear dirt path, bordered by small bricks. Some branches had been broken off as though lots of large mammals had been passing through. Or, perhaps, people.

And then he spotted something ahead he had never seen before.

When he gasped, Alfred seemed to realise he had seen it and pulled Arthur through the last of the trees and into the new clearing. There was cut grass, soft underfoot, and tiny flowerbeds dotted across it filled with bright flowers. A faerie circle was just visible, though Arthur supposed the mushrooms were actually fake. Two stone basins sat at either end of the clearing, the water running from one to the other through a stone channel to create a fake stream, the sound of trickling water mixing with the twittering of birds. To get to the other side of it, a tiny little bridge had been erected. The destination seemed to be a large piece of old wood, carved into the shape of a bench and likely waxed to prevent decay if the shine was anything to go by. A tinkling noise drew Arthur's attention upwards to see a wind chime dancing in the breeze – and several fairy lights tangled in the branches above them, off for now, but with the promise of light when evening fell.

It was perfect, a place for him to retreat to. Arthur absolutely loved it and his vision blurred with happy tears. Turning to Alfred, he gaped at him. “A-Al-”

“I told you I love you, Artie,” said Alfred, grinning. “You told me about how much you wished there was a proper place to come to when we explored this place a couple of months ago and, when you described your perfect, private space, I could see it. Literally see it. And all I had to do was design it and ask your father for permission.”

“He... He gave you permission to mess around with the estate?” Arthur breathed, awed. “He _never_ let's _anyone_ decide what to do with his land!”

“Well, I told him it was a present for you and he seemed to like the idea more. Kinda. It took a while to convince him. And then I had to work double time. But he's gonna let me use it for my portfolio!” Then Alfred grimaced and grabbed Arthur's hand. “That's why I didn't come see you for a while. I'm so sorry. Were you lonely without me? Because I missed you.”

Arthur made a choked noise. “Wha-? Alfred, of course I-” He looked around again. “This is beautiful. Why...?”

“You told me to prove how much I love you. Doesn't this prove it?” And Alfred looked so hopeful that Arthur couldn't have said no even if he had wanted to.

“I... Oh, Alfred. You didn't need to. I was being stupid, really,” Arthur told him, a pained expression on his face. “You shouldn't have gone to all the trouble.”

“But I wanted to show you that I would do _anything_ for you. _Anything_ to make you smile.” Letting go of one of Arthur's hands, he reached up to rub a thumb over Arthur's cheeks. “So don't make that expression.”

“Idiot,” said Arthur, laughing, a tear managing to escape but quickly wiped away for him. “I... I love you, too, all right? Stupid. Doing all this... Honestly! What am I going to do with you?”

“Dunno,” Alfred replied, his grin wider than ever. “Kiss me?”

And so he did.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't want to spoil anything so I didn't put this at the start but Arthur's the son of a Lord. Alfred, however, is in his final year at university for being an architect. (I know that a garden isn't an architect's job to do but I figured Al could do it.) And they happened to meet when Alfred turned up in Arthur's bookshop one day.
> 
> I was going to have Arthur at the end say that he'd do anything Alfred wanted - including moving to America when Alfred had finished university, like Alfred had originally been planning to till he met Arthur. But that seems like a conversation for another time.
> 
> (The pompous fancy gentleman comment is supposed to be an in-joke from the first time they met and, er, the arguments they got into until they started dating. Just so's you know.)


End file.
